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15
14
Merrily,
merrily,
merrily...
Rio was a dream come true for our Olympic
champion. Tokyo is next, writes Rachael McDonald
He has an Olympic Men’s Quad
Scull Row ing Silver Medal around
his neck but that has not stopped
Alexander “Sasha” Belonogoff (RGS
2007) from considering what’s ahead.
The Rio Olympic medallist returned
from Rio to a hero’s welcome in
August at Rockhampton Airport,
welcomed and cheered on by family
and a hundred Rockhampton
Grammar School students.
From the time he was a 10-year-
old swimmer Sasha had wanted
to go to the Olympics one day.
“I put this event on a pedestal – a
magical event that has this aura
of specialness to it,’’ Sasha said.
“[But] going there, I came to realise
it was just another regatta and that was
quite nice for me. Yes there’s a lot of
extra stuff around the racing [at the
Olympics] but to have it feel as if it were
just another race was pretty cool.’’
Sasha and his crew won their heat so
they gained automatic qualification for
the final, but they were the roughest
conditions in which he had ever rowed.
“We were expecting a certain direction
of wind and basically got opposite of
that in our heat,’’ Sasha explained.
“It was a fair course and everyone
was in the same situation. No lane
was favoured. [It was] a matter of who
could handle the rough the best.’’
In the final, the Australian crew
again rowed in similar conditions,
finishing second to the Germans.
Sasha believes the German’s
leading performance was due to
t heir experience in adverse weather,
including strong head winds.
Happy to get his hands on
an Olympic Silver Medal,
Sasha loved the opportunity to
celebrate with his brothers and
sisters in Rio after the race.
“T he medal itself is so much
bigger and prettier than any other
medal I’ve received,’’ Sasha said.
Asked about just missing out on
the gold medal Sasha said you only
feel disappointment if you know
you didn’t give it your best crack.
“On the start line the last thing I
want is to finish the race feeling I
underpinned the race or didn’t bring
the right intensity,’’ Sasha said.
“We all felt we did all that
we could do on the day.”
It was an “awesome six months”,
too, training with three rowing
mates and a great coach. The medal,
he said, is a reminder of that.
“Just to get to the Olympics you need
to do the training, preparations and
go through the steps,’’ Sasha offered.
Sasha’s Olympic debut is over but
he would like to be in the mix for
Australian rowing team selection at
the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Three members of the quad crew
have said they are in for 2020,
with K arsten Forsterling, now 36,
uncertain of his Olympic future.
“We certainly have a lot of younger
guys in the men’s sculling group who
will be hungry to take seats off us [for
Tokyo], and that’s great,’’ Sasha said.
“I f you’re fighting for your seat
to get in your boat it’s going
to be a high quality crew.”
With four years before the Tokyo
Olympics, Sasha has time to pursue his
other interests and achieve some goals.
He hopes to get back into medicine
studies which he had started at
James Cook University in Townsville
when he left School, before
relocating to Sydney for rowing.
Conditioning, however, persists
wherever he is.
“The training doesn’t stop. I’m
enjoying it and don’t feel I need a
break from it,’’ said Sasha, looking
for ward to some less structured
circuits in the coming months.
Row ing competitions rev up
again in December with time
trials set before first selection
trials in February and March.
In the meantime Sasha is excited to
see rowing growing in Rockhampton.
“To see so many people enjoying
the sport that has given me so
much.... It’s pretty pleasing”.